Savile started being a DJ at Radio Luxembourg in 1958. He stopped working for them in 1967. In 1968 he joined BBC Radio 1. On New Year's Day 1964 he presented the first edition of the BBC music chart television programme Top of the Pops. In 1971 he was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire.

On the night of 29 October 2011, Savile was found dead in his home at the age of 84, just 2 days before his 85th birthday. Police said there were no suspicious circumstances to his death. A year later his crimes were revealed by victims. He had been in hospital with pneumonia, and his death was not suspicious.

Since he died in 2011, 589 people have made complaints about Savile to the police. 31 said that they were raped by Savile. 16 said they were under 16 when Savile raped them. Police called Savile "Britain's worst paedophile".[5] In March 2013 Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary reported that 214 of the complaints that had been made against Savile after his death would have been criminal offences.[6]

It was also revealed that Savile also committed some child sex offences in his silver Rolls-Royce Corniche.

On 3 October 2012, a television programme called Exposure: The Other Side of Jimmy Savile was shown on ITV. In it several women said that Savile sexually abused them when they were teenagers. Exposure Update: The Jimmy Savile Investigation, was shown on ITV on 21 November 2012.

Savile was the subject of an episode of Louis Theroux's When Louis Met! where Theroux asked him if he is a paedophile in 2001 and Savile laughed off the question and told him that those were just claims.

In June 2014, the UK government Secretary of State for Health Jeremy Hunt apologised to Savile's victims after it was revealed that Savile had also abused dead bodies while at Broadmoor Psychiatric Hospital and he was a regular visitor and evil stalker.[7]